Sophie Wills

A group of fundraisers took on the Three Peaks Challenge in memory of a dear friend and volunteer, raising £2,000 for Worksop-based charity Bassetlaw MIND.

Paul Dawson, best friend Gary Clarke and a team of 11 fundraisers hiked a gruelling 26 miles to raise the funds in memory of Gary’s dad, Brian Clarke, who passed away recently aged 65.

Brian was an enthusiastic Bassetlaw MIND volunteer and the group wanted to continue his good work by fundraising in his honour.

Paul, a key account manager at Worksop firm Brunton Shaw, said: “Brian was retired from work and in his spare time volunteered at Bassetlaw MIND, which helps and supports people with mental health issues.

“He really enjoyed this position which is why we wanted to leave a bit of a legacy for him and do some good from the sad loss of Brian, especially knowing he would have massively endorsed this idea.”

The challenge saw the group scaling the peaks of Pen-y-ghent, Whernside and Ingleborough in just under 12 hours.

These peaks form part of the Pennine range, and encircle the head of the valley of the River Ribble, in the Yorkshire Dales National Park.

“The walk was horrendous in regards to the weather- it rained for the whole walk.

“ It took us approximately 10 hours, with varied levels of walking experience in the group from novices to ex-military to one member who was training to climb to Everest base camp.

“Despite this we completed the walk in good spirits and celebrated with a few drinks.”

A spokesman for Bassetlaw MIND said: “We would like to extend our thanks to everyone involved in the challenge for their donation. We are very appreciative of this lovely gesture.

“A fantastic donation like this will certainly be beneficial to us as a charity.”

Part of the money raised will go towards a memorial bench for Brian at a allotment he tended to with MIND service users.

Paul said he, Gary and the team planned to fundraise annually in Brian’s memory.

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